Guingona vs Gonzales

Facts: The mathematical representation of each of the political parties represented in the
Senate for the Commission on Appointments (CA) is as follows: LDP7.5; LP-PDP-LABAN--.5;
NPC2.5; LAKAS-NUCD1.5. The LDP majority in the Senate converted a fractional half
membership into a whole membership of one Senator by adding one-half or .5 to 7.5 to be able
to elect respondent Senator Romulo. In so doing, one other partys fractional membership was
correspondingly reduced leaving the latters representation in the CA to less than their
proportional representation in the Senate.

Issue: Whether or not there is a violation of Art. VI, Sec. 18

Held: The respondents claim to membership in the CA by nomination and election of the LDP
majority in the Senate is not in accordance with Sec. 18 of Art. VI of the Constitution and
therefore violative of the same because it is not in compliance with the requirement that 12
senators shall be elected on the basis of proportional representation of the political parties
represented therein. To disturb the resulting fractional membership of the political parties in
the CA by adding together 2 halves to make a whole is a breach of the rule on proportional
representation because it will give the LDP an added member in the CA by utilizing the
fractional membership of the minority political party, who is deprived of half a representation.
The provision of Sec. 18 on proportional representation is mandatory in character and does
not leave any discretion to the majority party in the Senate to disobey or disregard the rule on
proportional representation.
The Constitution does not require that the full complement of 12 senators be elected to the
membership in the CA before it can discharge its functions and that it is not mandatory to
elect 12 senators to the CA. The overriding directive of Art. VI, Sec. 18 is that there must be a
proportional representation of the political parties in the membership of the CA and that the
specification of 12 members to constitute its membership is merely an indication of the
maximum complement allowable under the Constitution. The act of filling up the membership
thereof cannot disregard the mandate of proportional representation of the parties even if it
results in fractional membership in unusual situations. Even if the composition of the CA is
fixed by the Constitution, it can perform its functions even if not fully constituted, so long as it
has the required quorum.